Article Title
Multiscale carbon foam confining single iron atoms for efficient electrocatalytic CO2 reduction to CO
Authors
Zheng Zhang, State Key Laboratory of Physical Chemistry of Solid Surfaces, Collaborative Innovation Center of Chemistry for Energy Materials (iChEM), College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Xiamen University, Xiamen 361005, China
State Key Laboratory of Catalysis, iChEM, Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Dalian 116023, China
Chao Ma, College of Materials Science and Engineering, Hunan University, Changsha 410082, China
Yunchuan Tu, State Key Laboratory of Physical Chemistry of Solid Surfaces, Collaborative Innovation Center of Chemistry for Energy Materials (iChEM), College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Xiamen University, Xiamen 361005, China
State Key Laboratory of Catalysis, iChEM, Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Dalian 116023, China
Rui Si, Shanghai Synchrotron Radiation Facility, Shanghai Institute of Applied Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 201204, China
Jie Wei, State Key Laboratory of Physical Chemistry of Solid Surfaces, Collaborative Innovation Center of Chemistry for Energy Materials (iChEM), College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Xiamen University, Xiamen 361005, China
Shuhong Zhang, State Key Laboratory of Physical Chemistry of Solid Surfaces, Collaborative Innovation Center of Chemistry for Energy Materials (iChEM), College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Xiamen University, Xiamen 361005, China
Zhen Wang, Materials and Structural Analysis Division, Thermo Fisher Scientific, International Bioisland, Guangzhou 510320, China
Jian-Feng Li, State Key Laboratory of Physical Chemistry of Solid Surfaces, Collaborative Innovation Center of Chemistry for Energy Materials (iChEM), College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Xiamen University, Xiamen 361005, China
Ye Wang, State Key Laboratory of Physical Chemistry of Solid Surfaces, Collaborative Innovation Center of Chemistry for Energy Materials (iChEM), College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Xiamen University, Xiamen 361005, China
Dehui Deng, State Key Laboratory of Physical Chemistry of Solid Surfaces, Collaborative Innovation Center of Chemistry for Energy Materials (iChEM), College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Xiamen University, Xiamen 361005, China
State Key Laboratory of Catalysis, iChEM, Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Dalian 116023, China
Keywords
CO2 reduction, electrocatalysis, multiscale structure, carbon foam, single iron atoms
Abstract
Electrocatalytic CO2 reduction to CO is a sustainable process for energy conversion. However, this process is still hindered by the diffusionlimited mass transfer, low electrical conductivity and catalytic activity. Therefore, new strategies for catalyst design should be adopted to solve these problems and improve the electrocatalytic performance for CO production. Herein, we report a multiscale carbon foam confining single iron atoms prepared with the assistant of SiO2 template. The pore-enriched environment at the macro-scale facilitates the diffusion of reactants and products. The graphene nanosheets at the nano-scale promote the charge transfer during the reaction. The single iron atoms confined in carbon matrix at the atomic-scale provide the active sites for electrocatalytic CO2 reduction to CO. The optimized catalyst achieves a CO Faradaic efficiency of 94.9% at a moderate potential of −0.5 V vs. RHE. Furthermore, the performance can be maintained over 60 hours due to the stable single iron atoms coordinated with four nitrogen atoms in the carbon matrix. This work provides a promising strategy to improve both the activity and stability of single atom catalysts for electrocatalytic CO2 reduction to CO.
Graphical Abstract
Publisher
Tsinghua University Press
Recommended Citation
Zheng Zhang,Chao Ma,Yunchuan Tu,Rui Si,Jie Wei,Shuhong Zhang,Zhen Wang,Jian-Feng Li,Ye Wang,Dehui Deng, Multiscale carbon foam confining single iron atoms for efficient electrocatalytic CO2 reduction to CO. NanoRes.2019, 12(9): 2313–2317
